Sun Dogs (2007)

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Directed by Andrea Stewart.

Starring Jimmy Buffett, Danny Melville, Oswald "Newton" Marshall, Dudley Stokes, Devon Anderson.

The true story of the Jamaican dogsled team comes to the screen in this documentary that follows twelve stray dogs from the streets and animal shelters of Kingston as they travel the globe in search of adventure. No one ever thought these weathered canines would amount to anything, but thanks to a mission spearheaded by pop legend Jimmy Buffet the dogs who once wandered the streets now have a new lease on life. In forming Jamaica's first-ever dog sled racing team, both man and beast will learn the importance of never giving up hope and always reaching for a brighter future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Thanks to the Maven Group for W ...
by The_American_Dream in The_American_Dream Blog

lost interest.

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"I suppose, there is not much keeping me from writing a review for this one where I try to make a case for both the good and bad aspects of it. But I am so inclined that "Sun Dogs" does not quite warrant that amount of open handedness to it. It is not easy to come down hard on a movie that was only just bad enough to come down hard on. What can I say, "Sun Dogs" just does not do it for me. It seeks to prove allot of things it seems; like how Jamaica can have a sled-dog team as much as any nation can, a documentary can be made about anything, and the under-dog (couldn't help it) story is never easy which is why so many movies have that as their theme. These themes are admirable but hard to inspire emotion over which is why "Sun Dogs" fails. Sure, Jamaica can have as many dogsled teams it wants. They all ready have their bobsled team. Obviously, "Cool Runnings" declares this story as Disney territory making "Sun Dogs" impossible to watch without reminding me how many times I saw "Cool ... " [More]

Like finger food before a grand ...
by tadiv in tadiv Blog

is neutral about it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"Palm Pictures in association with Dog Leg Media presents Sun Dogs, a movie directed and produced by Andrea Stewart. It includes several local Jamaican personalities and officials along with performer and sponsor of the team, Jimmy Buffett. Also featured is the brainchild of these projects (the Dog Sled Team and the movie), Danny Melville. Sun Dogs runs 90 minutes and is presented as not rated by the MPAA.Sun Dogs follows the development of the Jamaican Dog Sled team program. This program (the Dog Sled Team) is both a fund raiser and promotional tool for the island nation’s tourism economy. Following a documentary style, the movie introduces several players in the Dog Sled Team, and follows the training process and the people who will be the team’s competitive representatives.Sun Dogs is professionally filmed and edited. The production quality is sound and a review of the credits shows that Palm Pictures was involved early in the life of the project. The movie inc ... " [More]

Re:Africa Unite
by joem18b in Spout Mavens

hasn't rated it.

"I felt like I could imagine the connection between Chris Blackwell (founder of Palm Pictures and early signer of Bob Marley) and Rita Marley and Africa Unite. The connection that interests me is the one between Blackwell and Danny Melville and Sun Dogs. I'd love to know whether making that movie was just about the $$$ (because the movie is a glorified commercial) or whether Blackwell did it for the good of Jamaica. " [More]

Woof
by joem18b in joem18b Blog

hasn't rated it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"Before beginning this review, a tip of the hat to sun dogs, aka parhelia, those common bright circular spots on a solar halo. Sun dogs are "an atmospheric optical phenomenon primarily associated with the reflection or refraction of sunlight by small ice crystals making up cirrus or cirrostratus clouds."Also, a little love for the Arizona Sundogs in the Central Hockey League and for a few favorite dog movies: snow dogs, rain dogs, desert dogs, moon dogs, straw dogs, stray dogs, reservoir dogs, dish dogs, lawn dogs, dead dogs, rabid dogs, chilly dogs, sleeping dogs, miracle dogs, road dogs, old dogs, dealing dogs, tap dogs, angry dogs, war dogs, catwalk dogs, deck dogs, top dogs, lost dogs, trinity dogs, urinoir dogs, bad dogs, barking dogs, fence dogs, devil dogs, gift dogs, good dogs, hot dogs, performing dogs, sea dogs, restricted dogs, society dogs, trained dogs, tokyo dogs, training dogs, wild dogs, zombie dogs, prairie dogs, and a dog's dog.And to note that Kingst ... " [More]

Sun Dogs
by analogzombie in analogzombie Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"Sun Dogs is the story of a rag tag group coming together to create Jamaica’s very first dog sled team. Does that sound familiar at all? Cool Runnings with dogs immediately comes to mind. While the basic concept of overcoming impossible odds to have the Caribbean islanders competing in snow sports is no different from that mediocre effort, the form is. Sun Dogs eschews the stoner comedy milieu in favor of heart warming documentary. The film focuses on the batch of strays selected for the dog team, and the men who came together to make it happen, including Jimmy Buffet. After the initial investment from some enterprising locals, American trainers are brought down to seriously engage the animals. It’s basically the training sequence from Best of the Best sans montage. The film spends a lot of time dealing with the plight of average Jamaicans and the wreckage of their economy. If you’ve ever been to the Caribbean and traveled inland from the beach resorts you have p ... " [More]

Jamaica Strikes Back
by Tenenbaums in Tenenbaums Blog

lost interest.

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"With crossword puzzles and air guitarists taking leading roles in engaging documentaries, it seems that the most unlikely candidates can make for the most interesting films. After the launch of the Jamaican dogsled team, the topic's oddity appeared natural for likewise treatment and quickly received it with Andrea Stewart's Sun Dogs. Cool Runnings told the story of the country's unlikely bobsled team that competed in front of the entire world at the 1988 Winter Olympics. Practically banking on the inevitable dogsled/bobsled misunderstandings as an "in," the filmmakers seem to think that they have another bizarre Jamaican success story and want to be the first to break the news in cinematic form. The only problem is that the story is barely worth telling. That, and high schoolers regularly make higher quality video projects for Honors English on their iMacs.After the commercial success of the bobsled team's run to fame, Jamaica proved that it was capa ... " [More]

Spout #7: Sun Dogs
by TheWorkingDead in TheWorkingDead Blog

lost interest.

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"When I first saw Sun Dogs on the list of movies available for review to Spout Mavens members, I skipped past it after reading only a few sentences. A movie about a Jamaican sled dog team? Cool Runnings gave me enough wacky Jamaican fish-out-of-water sports hijinks for one lifetime. Then I saw it was a documentary, and I put in a request. Then I started watching it and my interest waned. Then 10 minutes passed and I was hooked. Then I was bored. Then I was hooked again! It was a constant roller coaster of varying interest levels. It's impossible to view Sun Dogs without thinking of Cool Runnings-the John Candy vehicle that had him training the first Jamaican bobsled team(based on a true story)- and in fact that's the intention of just about everyone involved in this film. The Jamaican sled dog idea was nothing more or less than a calculated ploy to bring money, tourism and attention to a country mired in widespread poverty and crime. This isn't an ignoble goal by any mea ... " [More]

Sun Dogs
by JimBell in JimBell Blog

lost interest.

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"Sun Dogs: The True Story of The Jamaican Dogsled Team (2007) doesn’t work. The first of two fundamental problems is that the documentary isn’t really about the dogsled team. When you think of the famous Jamaican bobsled team, you think of four Jamaicans taking their sleds to a land of ice and snow. They do. So, when you think of the upstart Jamaican dogsled team, you think of a rag-tag collection of Jamaican street dogs, their sleds, and their driver (musher) going to a land of ice and snow. But the dogs and their sled never leave the Jamaican tourist ranch. The musher goes to Scotland and races someone else’s dogs in a dry-land race. The other fundamental problem is that the movie, which is more about Jamaica than the dog team, doesn’t teach us much about Jamaica. Certainly, many talking heads give their version of Jamaica is nice but the crime rate is high, or Jamaicans like to excel at bizarre challenges but most university graduates leave the country. Ho ... " [More]

"Cool Runnings" plus Canines
by indieabby88 in Bloggish review blog

hasn't rated it.

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"After the successful formation of the Jamaican bobsledding team in 1988 and 1992, it only makes sense that the land of sun and sand should turn its attentions to snow once more when it came time to find a new way to give the country a morale boost.This time, however, the Jamaicans are using a different kind of sled: one pulled by dogs. "Sun Dogs" is director Andrea Stewart's attempt at following the team's development, through successes and trials, and also an interesting look at Jamaica from a non-tourism perspective.While the story is inspiring, and the doggies are downright adorable, I found the description of Jamaica's economic troubles to be one of the film's more interesting points. Despite the tourism and cultural richness of "brand Jamaica," as it's called by one or two of the experts interviewed, there is plenty of poverty in the country, and the government is so deeply in debt that, we are told, they would have to borrow money to fi ... " [More]

Sun Dogs
by csprague in Spout Mavens

hasn't rated it.

"Sun Dogs From the sun-kissed beaches and tropical paradise of Jamaica comes a story of second chances. Rescued from the mean streets and animal shelters of Kingston, 12 stray dogs are trained to be the stars of Jamaica’s first dog sled racing team. The crew, spearheaded by pop superstar Jimmy Buffett, brings the unlikely meeting of a traditionally snow-bound sport to the sand and surf. But it is not just the dogs that are given a second chance. The team’s dog mushers are given the opportunity of a lifetime as they cultivate their love of animals while receiving an education and traveling the world. Together this motley, mutt-ley crew is winning hearts AND winning races. Mush Mon! " [More]

Tags: team , sleddog , animalrescue , secondchance , jamaica